Dal Makhani ( Low Fat Version)

This is a very simple recipe for a protein packed, low fat version of yummy Dal Makhani. Trust me
 you won't miss the missing fat in the recipe.

Prep Time: ~12 hours
Cooking Time: ~ 40 mins

Ingredients (Serves 2)

1 cup black whole Udad daal soaked overnight
2 tsp rajma soaked overnight
1/2 small onion chopped finely
1 tomato - pureed
1-2 fresh green or red hot chillies
2 cloves pounded garlic
1/2 inch cube of pounded ginger
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1.5 tsp cumin-coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
Salt to taste
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp low fat milk ( replace it with cream if you prefer non-low fat recipe)
2 tsp cooking oil ( replace it with butter if you prefer non-low fat recipe)
lemon juice for garnish
1 tbsp cilantro / coriander leaves finely chopped for garnish

Steps

1. Cook soaked udad daal and rajma in a pressure cooker. This takes longer than regular tur or chana daal so be patient. You might have to cook for 7-8 whistles till the daal is overcooked.

2. In a cooking pan, heat the oil (or butter), add pounded ginger-garlic and let it fry. Add chillies and onions and continue frying till onions are light brown and translucent.

3. Add chili powder, turmeric and cumin-coriander powder and give it a nice stir with the onions.

4. Now slowly pour in the tomato puree and 1/4 cup of water. Add salt at this point as well. Mix well and let the puree cook for few minutes. You will start smelling the cooked tomato in few minutes.









5. Now slowly add the cooked udad and rajma to the pan, add remaining water and mix it well. Let the liquid come to a boil.








6. Add garam masala to daal at this point and stir it once again.

7. Cover the pan with a lid and let the daal slow cook for at least 20 minutes. Longer you cook, creamier it gets. Traditionally this daal is slow cooked overnight in a tandoor! Gone are those days ( or nights) of overnight cooking in this fast food era and 20- 30 minutes of cooking at this point does the trick for my perfect dining experience.






8. Now open the lid and gently pour the milk ( or cream). Mix again and cook for 10 more minutes.








9. Your creamy, luscious Daal Makhani is now ready to serve. Garnish it with coriander and lemon juice. Serve it hot with Roti / Naan / Jeera rice / Plain rice and papadam.. yumm yumm

Thai Basil Eggplant (Brinjal)

Basil is my favourite herb and maybe a reason I love Thai food so much. The soups, curries and stir fries taste amazingly different with just few handful of sweet basil. This recipe is super easy and cooks in very little time. So lets get started with the recipe ...

Ingredients
- 3-4 Chinese Eggplant (Brinjal)( long and slender)
- 1-2 Chili peppers ( add per your taste)
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, washed and roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp thick Soya sauce or paste
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- salt to taste
- 1 tsp cooking oil
- 1/2 cup water

Steps
1. Wash your eggplants and chop it in to roughly 1 inch cubes
2. In a frying pan, heat the oil
3. Add garlic and chili peppers and cook for a minute or so until garlic turns golden
4. Now add eggplant to the fragrant garlic oil, add water, mix it and cover the pan with a lid.
5. Stir every few minutes and continue cooking for 5-8 minutes until eggplant is cooked and looks translucent.
6. Now open the lid, add salt, sugar and soy sauce.
7. Stir it well and continue cooking for few more minutes until a thick sauce is nicely smothered on every eggplant chunk. Cook until all the water is evaporated.
8. Now add fresh basil leaves, mix it once and switch off the heat.
9. Thai Basil Eggplant is ready to serve with some freshly cooked Jasmine or Basmati Rice.

Mmmmm!

Split Green Bean pancake

Mung dosa is perfect for your protein packed breakfast or light dinner. We love this recipe and its a regular feature on Sunday morning brunch. It is yummy and honestly not as difficult to make as it looks. So here are the simple steps for some yumm meal. 

Ingredients ( 6-8 medioum sized dosa or pancake)

- 1 cup split green mung beans ( mung daal with our without green cover)

- salt to taste

- cooking oil  

- 1/2 inch piece of ginger - pounded or 1/2 tsp ginger paste

- 2 cloves garlic - minced or 1/2 tsp garlic paste

- 1/2 cup water

Steps

- Soak mung beans for atleast 6-8 hours 

- Mix soaked mung beans, salt, ginger and garlic

- Add water only as you need to make a thick smoothie which can pour easily.

- Blend it very well till all the mung beans are crushed and it becomes a smooth batter.

- Now heat a flat pan and add little oil ( you need to do that only for the first pancake)

- Pour a table spoon full of batter at the center of the pan and quickly spread the batter working in circular motion and going outwards.

- Spray some oil on the edges and let it cook for few minutes. If the layer of batter is too thick then cover the pan with a lid so that it cooks well.

- You will see the edges turning dark, peel the pancake a little to see if it has the golden colour that you would like.

- Now peel the entire pancake/dosa and flip it on the pan. Let it cook for 30 more secs.

- Your pancake is now ready to serve.

- Enjoy it hot with your favourite chutney or ketchup.

- repeat the process by pouring fresh batter on the center of the pan.

Enjoy!!

Asian noodles with Basil

This is a yummy recipe with great deal of influence from Thai /Indo-China region. For this recipe I have used Vegetable and 10 grain noodles from my local organic store. You can choose your own noodles and I think this recipe will turn out as delicious.

Ingredients ( For 2 )

- 4 rounds of noodles or 3oo gms

- 1 small red onion, sliced long

- 1 medium sized green pepper, sliced long

-  1 tsp garlic paste

- 1 tsp ginger paste

- 1 tbsp chill sauce ( adjust per your preference)

- 1 tsp tamrind water ( soak 1 tsp tamrind in water for 10 mins, rub it and use only water) or 1/2 tsp of tamrind paste

- 1 tsp sugar

- salt to taste

- 2 tsp of soya paste or thick dark soya sauce

- 1 tbsp of chopped frsh basil leaves

- 1 tbsp cooking oil

Steps

-  Boil the noodles per instuctions on your noodle bag. Add few drops of oil in the boiling water to keep the noodles from sticking

- Heat the wok and add cooking oil. When the oil is hot add ginger and garlic and constantly stir it to preent any sticking or overheating.

- Once you smell the garlic-ginger oil, add red onions and cook it for few minutes until they are tender

- Now add soya sauce, tamrind water, sugar, salt and chilli sauce. Cook it for few minutes

- Add green peppers, mix it well and cook for a 2 minutes. Ensure that you don't over cook it, I like my peppers green and crunchy.

- Add basil, mix it.

- Add noodles now and gently mix it with veggies. Ensure that you don't break the noodles.

- Cook for few minutes, give it a gentle stir to ensure that its  not sticking to the wok.

- Yummy asian noodles are ready.

- Serve it in a bowl  and enjoy it hot!

Vegetarian Spanish Paella

This recipe turned out pretty good and tasted really nice to my surprise. True spaniards may disown this recipe but it tasted, looked and smelled nice on my dining table. Ofcourse, I had to use some local ingredients as I could not find the spanish rice and spanish peppers but it was still totally worth it.

Lots of fresh vegetables, exotic herb like Saffron and some tofu makes this dish a complete healthy meal and. fragrance of saffron and cooked Basmati is truly to die for!

Ingredients ( For 4 )

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1-2 green or red hot Peppers ( if you have Sapninsh Pecquillo peppers use that)

1 large onion, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
1 large green bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
3 large cloves or garlic, peeled and finely minced
1 - 1/2 tsp paprika

5 - 10 strands of good quality saffron
1 medium zucchini or thick cucumber, trimmed and cubed
4 large ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups Basmati rice
3 cups warm vegetable stock or warm water

1 Lemon wedge for garninsh

100 grams tofu cubes ( optional)

Steps:

 - In a thick bottomed pan, heat the extra virgin olive oil over medium high heat.

- Add the peppers, onion and bell peppers. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the onion is translucent.

- Add the garlic, paprika, saffron, zucchini and tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes more.

- Add Chopped

- Stir in the rice and mix it nicely with the veggies so that it catches saffron colour evenly

- Now add warmed stock or water and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium low and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until most of the stock is absorbed. Do not stir.

- Cover with a lid and let it cook for another 10 minutes at medium low heat or until all the liquid is absorbed.
- Do not stir.
- Serve immediately after you garnish with lemon wedges.

Enjoy!!

Tofu Masala

This is an adaptation of an Indian recipe of Paneer Masala where I have replaced paneer with Tofu. This recipe came about more out of desperation after a long period of resisting to alter classic Indian recipes with local ingredients such as Tofu. But my hubby and I love this recipe now and it is a regular feature on our dining table.

Ingredients ( recipe for 2)

- 200 gms firm tofu, cut into small cube or triangle shape of your choice

- 2 small tomatoes, puree it in blender

- 1/2 medium sized red onion chopped fine

- 1/2 Green bell pepper ( capsicum) cut small

- 1/2 cup skimmed milk ( add cream if your prefer)

Masala

- salt to taste

- 1 tsp red paprika / chilli powder

- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

- 1 tsp corriander and cumin powder

- 2 full cardomon

- 1 med sized cinnamon

- 1 tsp oil

- 1 tsp ginger and garlic minced or paste

Garnish

- chopped corriander or cillantro

- lemon wedge

Steps: 

- Heat oil in a pan, add ginger and garlic paste till done and oil is freagrant.

- Add onion this oil and cook till its transperent

- Split the cardomon and add it to the oil with the cover, add cinnammon and rest of the masala and stir in the hot oil for a 30 secs

- Gently add the tomato puree and mix it well. Let the puree come to a boil

- Add the milk ( or cream) now and mix it at low flame. Your gravy is ready now.

- Add chopped tofu and green peppers to the gravy, cover the pan and let tofu soak the flavour for 8-10 mins on med flame. 

- Serve it in a bowl, garnish with cillantro and lemon/lime. 

- Enjoy it hot with Roti / naan / paratha or simple steamed rice. 

Braised Tofu with Ginger and Tomatoes

This is a nice salty and sweet tofu recipe with aromatic flavors of ginger. 

I am a big fan of ginger for its flavor, smell and medicinal values and I never miss an opportunity to use it in my food and drinks.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=72

Ingredients

200gms firm tofu

2 small tomatoes chopped or 8-10 cherry tomatoes whole

1 big piece of fresh ginger sliced finely

1 small cup carrots sliced

1 tsp sugar

1 table spoon dark soy sauce

1 tsp (rice) vinegar

2 tsp oil

Paprika to taste

Salt to taste

75ml water

Steps

Cut the tofu into 1/2 inch thick rectangle / square slices.

Take oil in a pan and shallow fry the tofu. Once they are brownish on both sides remove the tofu and quickly pat dry them on paper towel. 

In the remaining oil, put the ginger slices and let it fry for few mins until your kitchen is filled with nice smell of ginger;) Now add tomatoes and carrots and stir fry them until tomatoes blister nicely. Add sugar to this and notice that it will quickly start to caramelize in the hot oil, add dark soy sauce, paprika to this and continue stiring gently. Add 1 tsp vinegar and salt to taste ( note that soy sauce is salty so you can completely skip the salt if u like). Now slowly add water to the pan and bring to a boil. Now slowly slide tofu into the brown sauce, cover the pan and slow cook the dish for 15 mins.

Serve it hot with steaming rice (white, brown, multi-grain) and enjoy :)